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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | So hay keeps going up and up here with no sign of coming down. I need to free up cash to build better facilites. I have a group of horses that I really like and have sold off everything that doesn't fit my program already. So how do you choose what to sell? |
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Veteran
Posts: 238
 
| I had to do that several years ago. I kept the oldies that had earned their retirement with me and picked out 2 for myself to ride. The rest went. It was hard. Years of breeding would load onto trailers every couple of weeks. I don't regret it. It's tough feeding 4 horses that you can't/don't ride, but those mares gave me their lives for 10-20 years each. Besides, I can't ride more than 1 or 2 at a time anyway. |
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Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | That is the hard part most of what I have to old broodies. I've got a couple of colts to sell.
Then I have to look at my ladies and decide who stays. Some of them are well broke and easy to ride others are just halter broke. They were all hand picked over the years for my program. I'm keep back my two fillies from this year. I've been cursed with colts for the longest time. I keep saying hold out one more year and hay will come down or maybe this year I'll get a filly out of this mare or that. I'm thinking that my best bet maybe to put them all for sale and just price my really special broodies higher.
The kicker is for the past two years I haven't been able to grow my pasture high enough to see what kind of grass we had due to irrigation and fence problems. Well this year I did and found out my whole pasture is foxtails so I am going to have to kill it and replant it. So I am going to have to go another two years feeding 100% hay.
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 Ima Fickle Fan
Posts: 3547
 
Location: Texas | Keep the extra special broodies that you would price higher and sell the other broodies. Those are the ones you'll want to keep anyway. Keep a couple fillies that are special and sell the rest. If possible, keep one or two for riding. Hopefully, that will cut down your numbers.
At the end of the day, keep the ones that would break your heart the most to see leave. |
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 Keep those crap slapping tails away!
Posts: 8871
Location: Around here somewhere... | We have saved a lot of money by feeding hay every other evening, and feeding half beet pulp pellets and half alfalfa pellets (soaked) twice a day... My SIL feeds all of her animals green fodder from barley, I think it costs her about $30/month per horse. |
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Keep those crap slapping tails away!
Posts: 8871
Location: Around here somewhere... | Also- it would not be unethical to put down any of them, especially if they are older. We have several that we would probably put down instead of selling due to age, etc. They earned their retirement with us, but if we could not keep them we'd likely put them down. |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | Blaundee - 2014-07-24 12:52 PM Also- it would not be unethical to put down any of them, especially if they are older. We have several that we would probably put down instead of selling due to age, etc. They earned their retirement with us, but if we could not keep them we'd likely put them down.
^This. It sounds awful, but I'm not sending an older horse down the road. |
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Location: Wherever the Army sends my husband | Blaundee - 2014-07-24 12:52 PM Also- it would not be unethical to put down any of them, especially if they are older. We have several that we would probably put down instead of selling due to age, etc. They earned their retirement with us, but if we could not keep them we'd likely put them down.
This was painful, but I just had to do this.
I also need to downsize and find it impossible to pick who to sell. So I think I'm going to put up several for sale and keep the ones that don't sell first. |
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Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | MS2011 - 2014-07-24 12:28 PM Blaundee - 2014-07-24 12:52 PM Also- it would not be unethical to put down any of them, especially if they are older. We have several that we would probably put down instead of selling due to age, etc. They earned their retirement with us, but if we could not keep them we'd likely put them down. ^This. It sounds awful, but I'm not sending an older horse down the road.
I know that is true. It maybe a very sad fall around here. |
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Who to sell?